.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A lively and fine impression, this early little print depicts Christ’s circumcision in a temple. Dated to around 1630, the print is related to two etchings of a similarly diminutive format depicting scenes from the infancy of Christ executed by Rembrandt that same year: The Presentation in the Temple with the Angel (see lot 33) and Christ disputing with the Doctors (B. 66; New Holl. 53).
As in the previous lot, it is astonishing how much tension and drama Rembrandt was able to convey on such a small plate. The figure of the high priest standing at left with his ceremonial staff and presiding over the ritual, reoccurs later in Rembrandt's oeuvre in the magisterial Presentation in the Temple in the dark Manner (B. 50; New Hollstein 285) of circa 1654. Even here, on a tiny scale, the figure is imposing enough, and the whole scene, taking place under a tall arch filled with billowing smoke, is imbued with a sense of awe and mystery.
As in the previous lot, it is astonishing how much tension and drama Rembrandt was able to convey on such a small plate. The figure of the high priest standing at left with his ceremonial staff and presiding over the ritual, reoccurs later in Rembrandt's oeuvre in the magisterial Presentation in the Temple in the dark Manner (B. 50; New Hollstein 285) of circa 1654. Even here, on a tiny scale, the figure is imposing enough, and the whole scene, taking place under a tall arch filled with billowing smoke, is imbued with a sense of awe and mystery.